Debris hampers river cleanup

The cleanup of the Whitefish River is

behind schedule and could cause work to spill into 2013.

“We haven’t gotten as far as we

anticipated,” said Jennifer Chergo with the U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency.

The EPA began work to clean up

contaminated sediment in the river in late July. Crews are using a

wet dredging system that sucks up the soil and pumps it up river to

be cleaned. A few issues have made work slower than expected.

“There’s been mechanical problems with

the barge and a lot more debris in the river than we expected,”

Chergo said. “That’s slowed us down a little bit.”

The mechanical issues with the barge

have been repaired as needed, Chergo said.

However, the dredging system, which

works like a large vacuum, has been sucking up more than expected.

Large debris such as trees and rocks are removed from the river,

but other smaller items often become stuck in the vacuum and need

to be dislodged. Crews have found a number of items including tin

cans, fuel filters and even Ford Model T tires.

Cleanup work began at the Second Street

bridge and was expected to reach Baker Avenue before stopping work

in November for the winter. However, now it’s expected crews will

only make it from their starting point to near Mountain View

Manor.

The slower progress means the duration

of work will likely lengthen.

“We want people to know that we won’t

make it down to Baker and cleanup will likely roll into 2013,”

Chergo said. “This is important because we have to close the river

to do the work.”

The cleanup project was initiated after

EPA received a report in 2007 of an apparent sheen at several

locations on the Whitefish River. EPA investigated and discovered

petroleum products contaminating river sediments at several sites

along the river. EPA ordered BNSF to clean up petroleum

contamination in the river and restore the river.

The project is in its third phase.

Cleanup has been completed on a 500-foot stretch of the river below

the BNSF roundhouse and refueling facility and in the river’s upper

reach.

Crews are still expected to work into

November and then resume operations in March or April 2012. With

about 5,000 feet of river to be cleaned work will eventually make

its way downriver to JP Road.